


Okumura Power Lifting

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 06:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12881667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: As the newest member of the Phantom Thieves, Haru is still getting used to fighting in the Metaverse. Swinging an axe over and over again is a great way to tire yourself out quickly. After talking to the others, Haru looks for a way to get stronger.





	Okumura Power Lifting

Haru’s arms felt like they were about to fall off. The massive axe in her hands was not easy to use. It didn’t weigh a lot, but it was top-heavy and unwieldy, so Haru had to make sure she was in full control of its path. She had accidentally nicked Ren once while using it, and while he healed the minor wound quickly and assured her he was ok, she still felt absolutely terrible about hurting one of her new friends. Using a battle axe properly meant you had to hit your target, which required speed, which as large as the axe was, required strength. In order to use her weapon, Haru had to have the entire attack ready before she swung. The blade had to be angled just right to properly cleave into the enemy, she had to maintain a steady arc as she swung the axe, and she had to unleash a huge burst of power to make it all move in an instant so enemies couldn’t get out of the way. The others had it easy. They could just move and their weapons would move with them. Makoto just had to punch, Ren could twirl his knife effortlessly in his hand for a multiple-slash attack, and even Ann used her whip with the grace of a dancer. Haru had to know exactly what she was doing the moment before she did it.

This was not one of those moments.

Haru’s arms burned as she swung the axe at the Kaiwan. It would be just her luck that when she was particularly exhausted, the group was attacked by a Shadow that was immune to everything Milady could throw at it. Metaverse-enhanced strength only did so much when you were swinging a big hunk of metal around on a stick over and over again, and Haru faltered, missing the smug face of that weird star creature entirely. As her axe slammed onto the metal floor of the space station, Haru felt some recoil, and the impact traveling along the axe’s shaft was enough to make her let go of her weapon altogether. The Kaiwan looked at Haru with a wicked grin, ready to make its move.

“ANAT!”

Makoto’s voice came from directly above Haru. She and the Shadow looked up to see that Makoto had leaped in the air, her mask already removed. The giant mechanical warrior woman her Persona had recently turned into appeared behind her, blasting the Kaiwan with a ball of nuclear fire from directly overhead that vaporized it in an instant.

With the enemies vanquished, Ren walked over and started picking up the piles of yen left behind by their defeated foes. He paused when he saw how tired Haru looked.

“Noir, are you ok? You look like you could use some healing.”

“Thank you, Joker, but I am not hurt.” Haru wiped the sweat from her brow. “I am beginning to feel a little weary. I’m certain that after a short rest I’ll-“

“It’s fine if you want to call it in for the day.”

“Yeah,” Ryuji said, “we covered a lotta ground. We must be gettin’ close to the Treasure by now.”

“I’m not so sure…” Morgana toddled over and sighed. “It still feels pretty far away.”

“How far?” Ann asked.

“A lot farther than we’d like.”

“Well then…” Haru bent down and grabbed the handle of her axe, grunting as she slowly lifted it off the ground. “I suppose… we had best… be on our way!”

“Nope.” Ren grabbed part of the axe’s handle, as Haru looked like she was about to fall over from trying to carry it. “You’re in no condition to keep going, and I don’t think any of our medicine’s going to help.”

“Please, Joker.” Haru pulled the axe out of Ren's grip, using it to steady herself like a walking stick. “I don’t want us to stop making progress just because of me. I refuse to be a bur- OH!” Haru put too much of her weight on the axe, causing it — and herself — to tip over. Ren and Ryuji reached out and caught her.

“It’s ok to admit you’re tired, Noir. We all get worn out.”

“Yeah, this is intense stuff” Ryuji said. “You gotta pace yourself. It’s like when Ren and I train: If you overdo it you’re just gonna get yourself hurt.”

“Besides…” Futaba let out a massive yawn. “I’m getting pretty tired too. I don’t think I can keep going today.”

“I am feeling somewhat fatigued myself” Yusuke added.

“There you have it.” Ren grinned at Haru. “The whole team’s tired.” Ren wrapped Haru’s arm around his shoulder to support her. The whole group began to retrace their path to the nearest safe room.

“Sensei…” Haru looked down at Morgana. “How long will it be until I am no longer worn out by trips to the Metaverse?”

“I’m not really sure.” Morgana puffed out his chest. “I’ve always been strong enough to handle Palaces for long periods of time.”

“You get used to it pretty quick” Ann said.

“I hope so.” Haru frowned. “I’m afraid I haven’t been terribly effective in battle.”

“What, ‘cuz you dropped your axe?” Ryuji gave Haru a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about it. We all were messin’ up like that at first.”

“You were?”

“Yeah, take our leader here.” Ryuji pointed to Ren. “First few times he tried all that fancy twirly knife stuff, he kept droppin’ the knife. Left himself wide open to enemies ‘cuz he wanted to look cool.”

“You’re one to talk.” Ren sneered at Ryuji. “Remember the time you tried to hit that Pixie, but you missed, hit the wall, and your pipe bounced back into your face?”

“At least I only hurt myself.” Ryuji glared at Ann. “Unlike Miss Friendly Fire over there.”

“Like you would’ve done any better!” Ann huffed. “Any idiot can hit people with a stick!”

“So yeah…” Ren decided to steal the flow of conversation before the argument escalated. “All of us needed room for improvement. You’ll get there.”

“I suppose.” Haru looked down at her feet. “Still, I wish there was something more I could do.”

“Strength in the Metaverse, like a lot of things, is the result of your cognition.” Morgana gave Haru a worried look. “If you just think of yourself as weak and a burden, you’re not going to get any stronger.”

“You make it sound so simple, Sensei.” Haru sighed. “I’m not so certain that I can just believe myself to be stronger.”

“Yeah, lookin’ at yourself in a new way ain't exactly easy.” Ryuji nudged Ren with his elbow. “You should spend some time with this guy.”

“With Re- With Joker?” Haru looked at Ren and Ryuji curiously.

“I think Skull’s referring to the training he mentioned earlier” Ren said. “We go on runs or hit the gym sometimes.”

“Yes, exercise is quite helpful in this line of work.” Makoto cracked her knuckles. “I make sure to train with a punching bag every single day.”

“I still can’t believe that” Futaba said. “How do you fit that in with schoolwork and student council and everything else!? I can barely take a shower without feeling beat.”

“I’m just accustomed to it, I suppose.” Makoto frowned at Futaba. “Also, you should really shower every day, Oracle. It’s not good for your health to skip bathing.”

“I know that!”

“Regarding the subject of training,” Yusuke said, “I do not believe it necessarily needs to be in the form of exercise.”

“Oh?” Haru’s attention snapped to Yusuke. “How do you train, Fox?”

“We are doing battle in a cognitive world, after all.” Yusuke smiled proudly. “I elect to train my mind.”

“Are you referring to meditation?”

“Hardly.” Yusuke placed his left hand over his chest and stuck his right hand out in the air. “I am referring to art!”

“Of course you are” Ann said.

“I believe that as my brush strokes improve, so too do the strokes of my sword!”

“And that really works?” Haru asked.

“It doesn’t sound that far fetched to me. Sounds like a self-confidence thing.” Ren opened the door to the safe room, leading Haru to a chair. “I’m sure you’ll figure out something that works for you, Noir.”

* * *

The next day Haru was in Shibuya, walking down Central Street. She had been thinking about how more than anything, she needed to be able to keep swinging her axe as much as possible without getting fatigued. Personas were draining, and while Ren mentioned that he was working on getting something that could fix that, he also mentioned that it was going to cost a lot of money. When everyone was out of bullets and their bag of tricks was empty, melee combat was reliable. Haru decided that she needed to improve her strength and stamina, so she was headed for the gym that Ryuji had recommended. Haru had passed Protein Lovers plenty of times, but she’d never actually gone inside. She figured if the rates were reasonable, she might sign up for a full membership. Not that money was actually an object for her, but if she spent too much on exercise of all things her father would get very suspicious. Though with any luck, in a few weeks time that wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

As she got close to the gym, Haru spotted a familiar figure in the corner of her eye. Ren was standing in an alleyway. From how light his bag appeared, it didn’t look like Morgana was with him. Haru immediately changed course, wanting to say hello. Ren had been very nice to Haru since she joined the Phantom Thieves, but the two hadn’t gotten any alone time yet. As long as they were both in the area, Haru figured she might as well take the opportunity to get to know him a little better. It occurred to her that maybe forming a real bond of friendship with Ren might be just the thing to give her the confidence for a boost of strength in the Metaverse.

“Ren-Kun!” Ren was standing still by the entrance to the alley, just a little off the beaten path where no other people seemed to be. He didn’t seem to hear her shout, so she moved through the crowd and entered the alley herself.

“Good afternoon, Ren-Kun! What brings you to this part of the city?”

Ren didn’t answer Haru. He didn’t even look at her. He stared at the end of the alleyway. At first Haru thought he was focused on something, but there didn’t appear to be anything of interest capturing Ren's attention. In fact, when she looked into his eyes, it seemed like he wasn’t there at all.

“Ren-Kun? Are you alright?” Haru waved her hand in front of Ren face. “Are you feeling ill?” Haru tried poking Ren a few times, but nothing happened. This was concerning. Ren was so still that Haru actually wondered if he had somehow died on his feet, but in holding her hand right in front of his mouth, she could still feel the slightest breath coming out of his nose. She grabbed his wrist, and his pulse seemed normal too. Still, Haru was unsettled.

“Ren-Kun, you really shouldn’t stand around all alone in an isolated spot like this. It’s very dangerous.” Haru maintained her hold on Ren's wrist and tried to pull him away from where he was standing. “Come now, it isn’t safe here. This is the perfect place for a mugging to occur.” Haru grabbed Ren's shoulders and shook him. “Ren-Kun, please! I don’t understand what’s going on here, but if you can hear me, you need to move!”

Ren did not react to Haru’s presence in the slightest. It was incredibly distressing. Haru didn’t understand what was going on. Was Ren having a stroke? Had he gone into a sudden coma while walking down the street? Was that even a thing that was possible? She couldn’t help but wonder if somebody had done this to him. Maybe he was hypnotized, or worse, suffering from a mental shutdown. That last possibility sent Haru into a state of panic. No longer thinking rationally, Haru knew that she had to get Ren out of this alleyway. She was about to call emergency services, but then wondered if that would somehow get Ren in trouble, considering he was still on probation.

And so, desperately trying to come up with any way to help Ren, the only thing Haru could think of to do was move Ren herself. First she tried wrapping her arms around his chest and pulling with her whole body, but he didn’t budge. Then she tried pushing on his chest, putting all of her weight into it. Ren didn’t move in the slightest. He was completely lacking in any presence of mind. Most people would shift their position at least a little when somebody was pushing against them, if for no other reason than instinctually wanting to get out of the way. But Ren would not move. Finally, growing frustrated, Haru crouched down and wrapped her arms around Ren's legs. If she couldn’t push or pull him from the spot, maybe she could lift him away from it. Some part of her recognized how ridiculous this was, but concern for Ren's wellbeing overrode her voice of reason. And so, putting her back and legs into it, Haru tried to lift Ren off the ground.

“Um… Haru?”

The familiar voice snapped her out of her state of panic. Haru looked up, still hugging Ren's legs, Ren looking down at her in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“Ren-Kun!” Haru let go of Ren and stood up normally, her eyes wide with joy. “You’re ok!”

“Uh… yeah.” Ren took a step back from the older girl. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were standing around with a blank expression on your face! I tried to talk to you but you weren’t responding at all!” Haru crossed her arms and scowled at Ren. “I was beginning to fear the worst!”

“Sorry about that.” Ren adjusted his glasses. Haru shaking him had slid them out of place a bit. “I was just… thinking.”

“Thinking?” Haru clasped her hands behind her back. “About what?”

“Oh, lots of different stuff. The Metaverse, Personas, things like that.” Ren gave Haru an uneasy smile. “I guess you could say I just get lost in thought sometimes.”

“Well it’s not safe to let your mind wander in an isolated place like this. I’m sure if Mona-Chan were here, he would tell you the same thing.” Haru looked at Ren's empty bag. “Speaking of, where IS Mona-Chan? I thought he was always with you.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ren held up the bag, demonstrating how light it was. “I don’t bring Morgana with me when it’s time to cash out. The bag gets too full to fit him in.”

“‘Cash out’?”

“Yeah.” Ren pointed to a shop at the end of the alleyway. The sign above the storefront read “Untouchable”. “There’s a store here that’ll buy pretty much anything from me no questions asked.”

“That sounds suspicious…” Haru stared at the store for a moment. “What are you selling, exactly?”

“All of that junk we find in the Metaverse. It turns into stuff that can be kind of valuable when we bring it back to the real world. I sell it, and it’s actually where a lot of our operating capital comes from.”

“You collect a lot of things from the Metaverse. You must come here often.”

“Yup. Every time we make a trip into the Metaverse, I come here the next day.” Ren pulled out his phone. “Speaking of which, are you busy today?”

“Not particularly.” It was true that Haru was going to look at the gym, but it was only a look. Not something that would take very long. “Why?”

“Well, I was thinking about your training problem, and thought maybe we could get everybody together and go into Mementos. If we stay on some of the higher floors you could get some good practice, and we might even be able to clear a request or two.”

“Oh. I see…”

* * *

The parts of Mementos that the Phantom Thieves fought in weren’t as challenging as Haru’s father’s Palace, but it was still pretty good practice for her. Fighting weaker enemies proved not to be a waste for the other Phantom Thieves either. It was actually a pretty good way for them to test out some new skills and battle strategies without much risk. Still, the person who seemed to get the most out of the trip was Ren. Firstly, he managed to recruit a lot of Personas. Haru was surprised by this, because she’d seen him use a lot of Personas and wondered just how many he could hold. If she didn’t know any better, she’d guess he was somehow getting rid of them to replace them with new ones. Then again, Haru realized she didn’t really know anything about Ren's Personas, so that may have very well been the case. The other thing Ren seemed to get out of the excursion was treasure. He used that fancy-looking lock pick on a lot of chests, and wanted to explore every floor they were on thoroughly in case he missed anything. Ren's treasure hunt only came to an end when the tunnels became filled with the sound of chains rattling. Ren and Makoto shared a terrified look and then instructed everyone to get in the Mona Bus, informing them that today’s excursion was over.

As Haru got ready for bed that night, she couldn’t stop thinking about that moment with Ren in the alley. It was truly terrifying to see her teammate like that, physically present but mentally in another world. Even more disturbing was how Ren seemed to shrug it off. The way he talked about it, it sounded like he regularly spaced out. That had to be the result of some kind of mental illness or a neurological condition or something equally dreadful. Haru also remembered how Ren said he liked to go to that shop every time they visited the Metaverse to trade junk for cash. Maybe the episode was caused by something in the store? Haru decided to investigate.

The next day, Haru followed Ren after school. Sure enough, Morgana wasn’t with him, and his bag seemed overstuffed. Haru kept a safe distance, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie so she wouldn’t be recognized. If Ren did see her following him, he never indicated it. Once again, he ducked into the alley. And when Haru followed him in, he was once again standing still, completely unaware of anything around him. Haru decided to hang around for a few minutes, making sure Ren was safe. At one point, some very shady looking men walked out of Untouchable, giving Ren a peculiar look as they walked past him. Haru wasn’t sure who those men were, but she really didn’t like the idea of Ren being vulnerable to anybody who came along. And so, once again, Haru decided to try and move Ren.

Remembering all the failed attempts, Haru immediately crouched down and tried to lift Ren from the spot. It was not going well. The heaviest thing Haru had ever lifted was a bag of fertilizer, and Ren had to weigh at least two or three times that. Haru kept pushing upwards, every muscle in her body trying to lift Ren up. She strained for a solid minute, motivated entirely by her desire to get Ren to a place of safety.

And then, he moved. Just a little. An inch off the ground. Ren Amamiya's feet were no longer touching solid earth, and Haru Okumura was singlehandedly supporting all of the boy’s weight. He still wasn’t awake. He was still staring off into the distance. He wasn’t falling down, strangely. He was stiff, completely still, his pose unchanging even as his weight shifted around. It was like Haru was trying to move a very heavy mannequin.

Getting Ren off the ground was only the first step. Trying to carry Ren away in this crouched position was not going to work. And so, Haru tried lifting him higher, letting her grasp slide further down his legs, inching Ren up a bit at a time and straightening her posture as she did so. It took a minute, but soon Haru was holding Ren well above the ground like a Scotsman about to toss a caber, his feet in her hands and his waist against her shoulder. She prepared to carry him out of the alley.

And then she realized how absolutely ludicrous this course of action was.

There was no good way to handle any of this. Even if she could carry Ren more than a few feet — which if she was being honest with herself wasn’t happening — there was zero chance that carrying a young man down the street like this in broad daylight would not attract undesired attention. The police would probably stop Haru, and from there everything would just spiral out of control. At best, it would look like the heiress to the Okumura fortune was in an illicit relationship with one of her high school juniors, one which involved some very bizarre kinks. At worst, it would look like the heiress to the Okumura fortune was trying to kidnap a boy, and doing an exceptionally poor job at it. Either way, Haru’s father would almost certainly want to know just what on Earth she was doing with the boy, which would lead to Haru being kept under lock and key and away from the rest of the Phantom Thieves. Not to mention that Haru’s father would likely see fit to get Ren into trouble, which could possibly get him sent to jail, which would only hurt the Phantom Thieves even more. And even if all of that could be avoided, Haru doubted Ren would be ok with her picking him up and carrying him elsewhere, even if it was out of concern for his wellbeing. As far as Ren saw it, these trances seemed to be a regular part of his life.

Slowly, Haru put Ren down, back in the same spot she’d found him. And while lifting him certainly hadn’t been easy, once she was no longer actively performing the task her body caught up to how much it tired her out. She leaned against the wall, panting and sweating heavily. She lowered her hood to cool her head off.

“Haru?”

Ren had snapped out of his trance, and was now looking at Haru suspiciously. “What are you doing here? Did you follow me?”

“Good afternoon… Ren-Kun…” Refined young lady that she was, Haru was very practiced at hiding discomfort, so she was able to give Ren a smile that did not betray any of the feelings of guilt or awkwardness bubbling beneath the surface. “I was just… out for a jog… as part of my new training plan.”

“Oh.” The look Ren gave Haru was hard to read. Either he believed her and that was it, or he didn’t believe her but didn’t want to press the issue. “Well, as long as you’re here, do you mind waiting outside for a minute? I was thinking after I pawn off all the treasure we got in Mementos yesterday we could try and make some progress on your dad’s Palace.”

“Certainly.” Haru sat down on the ground as Ren headed into the store, reflecting on everything that had just transpired. Frankly, she didn’t know what to make of Ren's trances. He seemed to think they were perfectly normal, and he’d probably been spacing out in this alley for a while. But more than that, Haru couldn’t stop focusing on the fact that she had been trying to move Ren. And then successfully done it. She had picked up a human being larger than herself.

And she felt weirdly good about that.

* * *

Haru was, to put it in a term she’d heard often but never used herself, in the zone. Her axe cleaved into the Scathach in front of her, but she wasn’t done with it yet. Haru flipped the axe around and mustered another swing on the scantily-clad witchlike shadow. And then, just because she felt like it, she jumped back and pulled out her grenade launcher, blasting the monster to smithereens. If she was being honest with herself, it was overkill, but the deadline was just a few days away, and she was determined to secure the route to her father’s treasure today.

“Wow Noir, you’ve really come into your own.” Ren was hunched over, trying to pound an ache out of his back. The rest of the Phantom Thieves seemed to be showing a little wear and tear themselves.

“I’ll say!” Ann downed a Second Maid, trying to recover a minor wound Ren's healing magic failed to address. “You’ve been doing a lot better than you were a couple weeks ago!”

“I have all of you to thank!” Haru beamed at the others. Even weary from battle in this oppressive space station, there was something infectious about her smile. “Especially Joker! You’ve really inspired me to achieve new heights with my training!”

“Really?” Ren found that kind of odd. He hadn’t spent any time with Haru like he had the others yet. And it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he just figured Haru’s time would be better spent towards changing her father’s heart so she wasn’t forced to marry that smug jackass in the purple shirt.

“That’s our leader for ya.” Ryuji patted Ren on the back. With how sore Ren already was, it was the last thing he needed. “So, we gotta be close to the treasure now, yeah?”

“I can sense it!” Morgana started getting excited. “It’s really close!”

“Wonderful!” Haru started to run ahead. “Let’s go, team!”

“Noir, wait!” Ren stumbled after her as quickly as he could. “We need to stick together!” Makoto quickly came up and steadied Ren.

“Joker, do you need to stop for the day?”

“I’m fine, Queen.” Ren took a deep breath and slowly pushed off Makoto, standing tall on his own power. “I’m just going to need a moment to catch up to Noir. What’s gotten into her?”

“Well, this is her father’s Palace.” Makoto crossed her arms. “I imagine if I were trying to reform the heart of somebody close to me, I would want to finish things as quickly as possible.”

“I guess.” Ren started running after Haru. “Let’s move, people!”

* * *

Ren smirked at the twins as he left the Velvet Room. His trips there had been taking much longer lately. Part of it was that Persona fusion was becoming more complicated, taking more time for him to get everything lined up to reach the new heights of power he desired. The other part was that he actually enjoyed talking to Caroline and Justine. He wouldn’t have believed it months ago, but his wardens actually were people. Maybe not human, exactly, but people with endearing qualities and little flaws and actual depth to them. Caroline could actually be a lot nicer than her prickly facade, and Justine was hiding an actual personality under her cold, detached expressions and manner of speech. It was nice.

“Ninety-seven…”

Something was very odd as Ren returned to the real world. He wasn’t facing the end of the alleyway like he usually was. Instead he was looking up at the sky.

“Ninety-eight…”

Ren seemed to be moving up and down. And was also on his back, on a very small surface. And there was one arm wrapped around his legs and another around his chest.

“Ninety-nine…”

Ren looked down. He was being held by somebody, but he couldn’t see their face. It was clearly a girl, by their slender build and the pink workout clothes she was wearing. She had him stretched across her back and shoulders and she was doing squats, muscles straining and sweating heavily. Her voice was strained, so Ren couldn't recognize it immediately.

“One… HUNDRED! I DID IT!”

Ren realized who the voice belonged to.

“Haru, what the fuck!?”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is 100% in canon with all my other stories even if it contradicts anything I've ever written or I attempt to claim it isn't canon later. Let that be known right now.
> 
> Update: This story has been updated to use Joker's canon name.


End file.
